“I have frequently been in a position in which I might have remained Minister, or have acquired vast wealth, and so have been able to end my days in the midst of luxury and covered with honours. But such is not my idea of patriotism.
“The esteem, love and sympathy of my nation have been always valued by me far above all other favours and all the splendours of this world. I could not remain a Minister when my Sovereign refused to allow me to act as I thought necessary for the honour and welfare of my country, and I prefer poverty and exile to the swords of honour, the diamonds and highest favours; and to be held in esteem by my compatriots is to me the proudest and keenest satisfaction.”
Events in the East having now begun to assume a more and more threatening aspect, Midhat felt he could not possibly remain in inactivity at Naples, in the face of all the troubles that assailed his country. He went to Paris, and thence he crossed to London. He was the subject of the warmest welcome in each of the two capitals. Although an exile, he worked his hardest to find some favourable issue, and to deliver his country from the risk she ran in the Russian War. His friendly relations with Lord Beaconsfield and with the other English statesmen did not fail to produce some good effects in helping to save his country from an unjust war. When he had seen that the English Government were disposed to offer their good office for the promotion of an honourable peace, he left London for Vienna, where he was granted an audience by the Emperor Francis Joseph. On receiving news of the resistance offered by the Turkish army to the Russians, he addressed the following telegram to the Sultan Abdul Hamid:—
To H.M. First Secretary, Saïd Pasha.
“During my stay in London, I have tried to employ all my feeble efforts in favour of the Empire’s cause, and to obtain an honourable peace. I flatter myself that I have achieved some results. Now that I am at Vienna I am desirous of acting in the same way, subject of course to the approval of His Imperial Majesty, but it naturally goes without saying that in order that my efforts may be crowned with any measure of success, I must be to some extent acquainted with His Majesty’s plans, so that guided by the intentions of the Government, I may, to the best of my ability, render those services which are necessary in the crisis through which we are passing.—I am, etc.,
Midhat.”
(1877.)
The Sultan informed him in reply that he would never accept peace, and he would refuse to listen to any pourparlers on this subject, and that he did not hesitate to declare that any man who should contemplate such a step was far from being a true patriot.
Midhat Pasha, seeing that peace was impossible, returned to London, where he never wearied of striving by every means in his power to be of assistance to his country. The Sultan, on his side, was doing his best to vilify Midhat’s name in his own capital, and it is this that elicited the following letter from him to the Grand Master of Ceremonies, Kiamil Bey.
To Kiamil Bey, Grand Master of Ceremonies.